RSVP-ing

I felt I was part of a special club this afternoon.


As I was driving home from lunch with my mom, I got the invitation. It could have been addressed to anyone, but I just could not pass it up!


It was from the sky.


I raced in the house, called to my husband that I'd be back in a few, and grabbed my camera.


I don't know that I captured what I was after exactly, but I did see some others out and about, responding to the invitation too. They were pulled over onto the shoulder and walking along the back country roads, camera in hand. :o)




Later, Pete got the urge too and snapped these while visiting our neighbor.







(And in case you were wondering, we don't typically photograph the Amish. We see our neighbors about once a week and they invited us to take some shots of their tobacco barn construction for their records.)

Rough Housin'

Natalia has always been our rough and tough little girl...and is anxiously awaiting the day when she can REALLY wrestle her little brother. We keep telling her that she may be in for a surprise when that day comes! :o)



You can imagine her delight when Adam semi-tackled her today!

Oh boy! I can just hear myself now--saying those words ingrained in my head from childhood, "take it outside or down to the basement!"

Reprieve

What glorious weather we had yesterday!

As I was taking the above picture Natalia asked me, "Mommy, why are you laying on the driveway?!" I told her it was because the orange leaves looked so pretty against the bright blue sky. She still though I was a bit nuts. :o)

We decided to head to a nearby lake for a little 1 mile hike before dinner and the last of daylight faded. How odd, yet wonderful it felt to leave the jackets behind!

Does anyone know what these white fuzzy things are? They're probably weeds, but they just struck me as pretty.


Little legs got tired going up and down the hills...it's a good thing Daddy's legs are strong!

Running and kicking up leaves...

My Girl

It's been awhile since I put some of Natalia's silly nonsense on here. Here are a few of her recent sayings that cause us to shake our heads and wonder when she got to be so grown up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natalia, in hallway after having an imaginary conversation on her cell phone: "Mom, Aunt Kim said that I can come over and play with Morgan. She'll be here in a few minutes, okay?"

Me: "Are you pretending, sweetpea?

Natalia: "No, I'm for real!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few weeks ago when I got the call that my grandpa had passed away I was upstairs with Pete and crying when Natalia came up. She asked why I was sad. When I told her that Great Grandpa was now in heaven with Jesus, I added that sometimes people cry when they are really really happy AND sad at the same time.

Sweetly she replied, "Mom, I'll be your friend."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And today, this was how we passed the morning while Adam napped.

Who knew a cupboard organizer shelf, the post of a ring toy and lots of "ironing" could provide such enjoyment?! An imagination is a WONDERFUL thing! :o)

Backfire

I thought I was being productive.

Do any of you ever get into THROW IT OUT, CLEAN IT OUT, ORGANIZE MODE?

Has it ever backfired on you?

Just want to let you all know that if my blog posts from the last few months suddenly have pictures missing...it is not that something is wrong with your computer. It was me.

I had no idea that Picasa Web Albums were storing every picture I uploaded here in a file. When I was dejunking files this past weekend I accidentally erased a whole bunch of things. (sigh)

Is it any surprise to my fellow Type A-er's out there that I'm uploading them again? I just can't stand the thought of pictures missing in these old posts!

(big long sigh)

This may take awhile. :o)

A Post In Pictures

These pictures are from this past week...

...a week of remembrance, of laughter amidst sadness, the brilliance of autumn fading as the last of the leaves hang on with tenacity, cherishing loved ones, the purity of a child's smile, and the joy of being busy at home. Enjoy!

Grandpa Lentz and Nana Ruth


The trees at Byerland Mennonite Church were just beautiful.




Grandpa's legacy.


Me and my groom.


My younger brother Joe and his wife Kim. Aren't they cute?


I did get a good pic of my parents, but this one just makes me smile...because they make each other so happy, and that makes me so happy. :o)


Natalia and "Cousin" Hannah. They were immediate buds. :o) You can clearly see their penchant for cheese, can't you?


My newest nephew Eli--isn't he delicious?


My house smelled so good yesterday. (Recipes for White Wheat Oat Nut Bread and Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting will follow soon.)




And a few shots from outside the house this morning.

Employee of the Month

I'd like to introduce to you Winkler Enterprises' newest employee...drumroll please...Natalia Marie!

Not only does she give great hugs and tell funny jokes, she scribbles 180 squiggles a minute, takes elaborate phone messages, and has an amazing imagination. That comes in handy in this line of work, let me tell ya!

Her personal goals include going to preschool, growing up to be taller than her daddy, getting her masters in "Letters and Numbers", and becoming fluent in Polish.

Let's make her feel welcome, folks!